250) Where Song Began

Southern Emu-wren

The Emu-wrens are Dirk's new nemesis bird for photographing.  They live in rare, specialised habitat (heathlands), they are tiny and hard to find, and they are speedy about ducking for cover and disappearing before you can even raise your camera.  Notice his tail that he is holding perpendicular up from his back (they do this when excited); it is filamentous like an emu, and twice his body length (it extends out of this picture).  Out of 15 cm-worth of So Emu-wren, 5 cm is bird and 10 cm is of tail!

Superb Lyrebird

Lyrebirds have the most divergent DNA of any bird in the World, indicating their evolutionary distance from all other birds.  We have just learned from Tim Low's new book 'Where Song Began,' that along with Australian scrub-birds, they are the 'sisters' of all the other songbirds in the World!  The conclusion is that birdsong began in Australia, and radiated outward.  This is something northern hemisphere ornithologists have had difficulty coming to grips with (after all, birds could not have originated in a place as backward as OZ!), though it was first revealed by American geneticist Charles Sibley.

White-bellied Sea Eagle

This juvenile Sea-Eagle was cruising over the crashing waves along the shore of Royal National Park.  Affectionately known locally as 'Nasho' or 'The Royal,' Royal is the World's second national park.  We're attempting to locate a house to live in close to here; it is about 12 km from where we're currently staying.




























Wombat

Mammal-spotting at 80 km/hour, this wombat was nosing about in a paddock, visible below the highway we were travelling on late in the arvo (afternoon).  His characteristic blocky form elicited an excited 'STOP!! WOMBAT!!'.  We are thrilled to see him, because he is our first sighting of a live wombat in the 'wild.'  We have seen a number of roadkill wombats, mostly in Tasmania.  A Tassie local suggested that, like the Tassie devils (who are quickly approaching extinction due to facial tumour disease), the number of roadkill sightings indicates animals that are 'doing ok' (a sentiment we don't agree with).

Fitzroy Falls

Another pretty local attraction, this waterfall is 81 m high. This park is where we saw our lovely lyrebird scratching about in the duff in the late afternoon light of the forest.

    

249) Our Locals

Chestnut-rumped Heathwren

Just south of our current abode in Sydney is Royal National Park - an expanse of forest and heath, some good trails an the site of many trail-running events! It also boasts some hard to find species such as the tiny (and fast) heathwren.

New Holland Honeyeater

Not everything is rare - I counted 9,987 of these guys (exactly!). It had been raining for a week so on this sunny day the bugs were out and the honeyeaters were happily feeding

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater

Royal is one of the best locales to find Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters. They have a beautiful morning song and their call is quite distinctive - it was the best key to locating them among the far more common New Hollands.

There is a pair of Kestrals at a lookout - one local told me to look out for them to be nesting on the cliffs soon.

Rock Warbler

Another park regular is the Rock Warbler - a ground dweller, they happily cling to cliff faces snapping up bugs.

248) The new neighborhood - Sydney NSW

Nancy has arrived in Sydney!

After much to-ing-and-fro-ing between Sydney and Brisbane we have finally moved to Sydney (mostly). We have rented a 'sabbatical  house' while we figure out where in Sydney we actually want to live - in the hustle-bustle of the city or out on the fringes and commute (via train - driving is a nightmare!) Here we are on the ferry with the CBD, Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as a selfie backdrop.

Molly on the drive from Brisbane to Sydney - long way to go with a crammed car. 

 
The Harbour Bridge (and Opera House) from the air.




For a little while my commute was 30 by ferry from Manly to the city proper. Quite lovely way to start the day. Read a bit - check email, watch the ocean go by. Although Manly is great, it's hard to leave (as in drive anywhere else) because you have to traverse the city - this adds a LOT of time and angst. Given our desire to explore we will not be locating in Manly. Though now that I am a train-rider I miss the ferry.

It is still winter so its always dark on my way home - pretty though!

Every night a group of gulls rode the "bow-wave" of the wind off the ferry. They would simply glide until they spotted something in the water - then peel away and pick it up. Pretty interesting learned behavior!

The harbour is a bustling place - cruise ships, ferries, horde of people at the Opera House (the botonic garden is right behind it.)

 The Sydney Opera House - I use this as an example in one class - it is a large $$-drain with interesting questions regarding how long the NSW gov't will continue to fund it!

The barista at the local shop (on the walk from the station) is an artiste' !!!!!



My new hangout..- Its a REAL university!!

He-man at the Beach!!!!

247) Rarities

Swift Parrot

We made another trip out to Mulgoa Reserve as a group of Swift Parrots had been sighted numerous times. The Swifts are  another endangered species with  the latest survey reporting 1200 birds. Their population has declined by ~30% in the past 8 years so making the effort to see them is a special event.

We encountered a research group from ANU who were banding them for study. The Swifties breed in Tasmania (like the Orange Bellied Parrot) and distribute up the east coast of OZ (a group has been seen recently near Brisbane). They indicated that this photo is a young(ish) bird.

This species has posed a bit of an enigma. The eucalyptus they prefer is reasonably abundant but their population is falling precipitously. The ANU group recorded footage from a breeding site in TAS showing a 100% mortality rate - from Suger Gliders! (see http://theconversation.com/sugar-gliders-are-eating-swift-parrots-but-whats-to-blame-19555). Parrot predation by gliders increases in disturbed forests (read - the old growth forestry still going on in TAS). So the logging removes breeding habitat for parrots and also makes predation by gliders more likely (Gliders were likely introduced to TAS from the mainland in the early 1900's -they are OZ natives but not on TAS) .

This has no easy fix.......

246) Further New Birds

Beautiful Firetail

I headed south of Wollongong to a campground near the famed Mystics surf area. Cold and blustery weather in the morning as I drove up to Barren Grounds - a complete misnomer for a remnant patch of heathland. Barren it is not. I was thrilled to find a pair of firetails chowing down in some casarina trees - they are indeed Beautiful Firetails!

A small patch of rainforest creeps up the hill into the reserve. Among the standard birds I got a great look at two Red-browed Treecreepers. We have seen them - rarely- before so it was great to have them hang out for a while.

















Another of the iconic species of this remnant patch is the Eastern Bristlebird. We have seen 2 birds of the northern range and here I saw three in a few hours. They would blithely pop out of the grass and stroll down the track. This is rather an amazing sight given their critically endangered status - an estimated < 2000 left in the world. A look at the heathland they inhabit and I realized their tenuous existence. One bad fire here and a large part of the population is gone.

 I headed back up to the Irrawong Reserve to see if I could show Nancy the Powerful Owl.. Others have found him with a recent possum lunch - I was pleased to get him facing the camera. I took a few pics and let him get back to sleep - he must get tired of the parade of visitors to his roost.

 We made a foray out to Mulgoa Preserve out west of Sydney. One highlight was a good capture of a Weebill - another of the tiny fast birds.

A profusion of blooming banksias meant for many Eastern Spinebills. Also numerous honeyeaters - Fuscous, New Holland, White-eared, Yellow-tufted and White -naped. A good show.

245) New Back Yard

Regent Honeyeater

 I have been down in Sydney for a month now getting ready for classes to start. Just N of Manly is Ku-ring-gai Natl Park in which a small group of the endangered Regent Honeyeater had been reported. I dashed up there on a few occasions and was lucky to see him (a young male I have been told) on a few occasions. We saw Regents in the Blue Mountains in 2008 but did not realize at the time that they were critically endangered (less than 1000 birds) and the focus of large conservation efforts (which are failing).

Spotted Pardalote (Male)

At the same locale were a pair of wonderful Spotted Pardalotes collecting nesting material for there underground nest/burrow!

Here is Mr......

Spotted Pardalote (Femal)

and Ms... (note the yellow spots and lighter throat)

I met some birders in one of the small wetlands N or manly who tipped me off to the roost of a Powerful Owl! Never thought I would see one of these guys. Their feet are huge and they take possums with some enthusiam!

244) Something special

Spotted Pardalote

Finally!
We headed over to one of the great bird walks around Enoggera Reservoir to see what we could see. Its still winter here so it was chilly and the birds were slow to become active. As we walked along I heard Nancy's muffled "Diiirk...!" behind me and turned to see her point at something invisible about 3 ' off the ground. "He's here! no there!...". I finally picked out the most cooperative Spotted Pardalote we have even seen.

We have heard, them, seen them, followed them, thrashed through the bush in pursuit, and tried (mostly in vain) to photograph these exquisite birds. They inhabit the HIGH reaches of eucalypts feeding on lerps and such. They have a piecing song making them seem much closer than they are and  I have found them extraordinarily hard to photograph (though some folks claim to be able to "phish" them into coming close, I think my accent is wrong). So finding a pair (I missed the female) mere feet away (I had to back up to focus) and relatively calm was great fun!

Scarlet Robin

Last weekend we took a day to drive to our favorite granite country area in Giraween National Park with some avid birdos from Nancy's lab. Many of the usual suspects were seen but  Megan knew of a out-of-the-way meadow that was chockers with robins. Lo and behold, there were 2 pairs flirting about in various poses. As seen below, these guys rather standout and we could pick them out from a looong way away!

Can you find the Robin?